Poultry farm practices

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to methods of improving the environment within a poultry farming facility including reducing ammonia production in a poultry facility, inhibiting urease enzymes in poultry litter, reducing levels of pathogenic bacteria in poultry litter, improving productivity of poultry farms, reducing or preventing pododermatitis in poultry reared in mass production poultry facilities and controlling pests in poultry litter. Compositions, suitable for use in such methods, comprising at least one microorganism of the genus  Bacillus  and at least one biosurfactant wherein the biosurfactant is present in an amount of 2 mg/L to 7000 mg/L are also described.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to methods of improving the environmentwithin a poultry farming facility including reducing ammonia productionin a poultry facility, inhibiting urease enzymes in poultry litter,reducing levels of pathogenic bacteria in poultry litter, improvingproductivity of poultry farms, reducing or preventing pododermatitis inpoultry reared in mass production poultry facilities and controllingpests in poultry litter. Compositions, suitable for use in such methods,comprising at least one microorganism of the genus Bacillus and at leastone biosurfactant wherein the biosurfactant is present in an amount of 2mg/L to 7000 mg/L are also described.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

To provide food for an increasing population, the total production ofgrains, meats, vegetables and dairy products has increased 70% in thepast 50 years. Correspondingly, the growth of the poultry industry hasdramatically increased. The US value of production of broilers, eggs,turkeys and chickens in 2010 was USD $34.7 billion, increased by 10%from 2009. US poultry exports approached 7 billion pounds in weight foreach year 2008 to 2010. Furthermore, there is increased interest in thespecialty chicken foot section of the poultry market.

To sustain poultry production and growth in poultry production, massproduction facilities that house tens of thousands to millions of birdsare common in poultry farming. However, these facilities have productionproblems that are deleterious to bird health and result in slowerfeeding, low weight and/or cause disease in the bird population.

The close proximity of the poultry in the mass facilities means that thebirds are in contact with not only their own faeces but also the faecesof other birds. This results in gastrointestinal pathogens spreadingquickly through a facility. Some gastrointestinal pathogens of poultry,such as Salmonella spp., Clostridium spp., Camplylobacter spp., andEscherichia spp., are also pathogenic to humans and their levels inpoultry farms are monitored.

Levels of pathogenic bacteria in poultry populations have traditionallybeen controlled by administration of antibiotics to the poultry.However, in recent years some countries, such as European countries,have banned the use of antibiotics that are also used in humans, becauseof the emergence of antibiotic resistant pathogenic bacteria.

One means of overriding pathogenic bacteria in poultry has been to addprobiotic microorganisms to their feed and this has been found toimprove bird health, meat production and egg production (Khalid et al.,“Effect of Probiotic on some Physiological Parameters in BroilerBreeders”, International Journal of Poultry Science, 2011, 10(8):626-628).

The probiotics fed to poultry may include non-pathogenic microorganismssuch as Bacillus subtilis (U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,936, U.S. Pat. No.7,247,299 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,754,469). However, these compositions mustbe suitable for consumption by the poultry and any additional feedadditives with antibiotic activity may be regulated by industryregulators.

Furthermore, some of the pathogenic bacteria include urease enzymes thathydrolyze urea and uric acid found in poultry faeces and thereby produceammonia. High levels of ammonia in the facilities is deleterious to birdhealth and industry regulations require ammonia levels in massproduction poultry facilities to be kept below 25 ppm.

Control of ammonia levels is currently achieved over the first 8 to 10days of production by use of an acidic neutralizing chemical added tothe litter. Common acidic neutralizing chemicals include sulfate salts,bisulfite salts and organic acids such as citric acid. However, theseneutralizing chemicals are only active during initial production and areconsumed by about day 10 of production. Subsequently ammonia control isachieved using ventilation fans. Another difficulty with the use ofacidic neutralizing chemicals is that they are in constant contact withthe feet of the birds and cause or exacerbate pododermatitis caused byStaphylococcus infection and blistering of their feet.

Compositions comprising Bacillus spp., have also been used indeodorising compositions due to their ability to excrete extracellularenzymes that breakdown waste (U.S. Pat. No. 8,025,874). One of thesecompositions comprises a specific strain of Bacillus subtilis, NRRLB-50147, and is particularly useful for controlling odour in animalbedding. However these compositions require the use of specific strainsof B. subtilis and also include other adsorbents such as clay. Suchcompositions are also not indicated as suitable for large scale use inenvironments such as mass production poultry farms.

There is a need for an effective treatment of mass production poultryfacilities to reduce and/or control ammonia production and that iseffective in controlling and/or reducing pathogenic bacteria in poultrylitter and poultry manure thereby reducing odour, preventing infectionin the poultry and consumers and improving poultry health andproductivity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is predicated in part on the discovery that acomposition comprising at least one Bacillus microorganism and at leastone biosurfactant, such as surfactin, is useful in controllingpathogenic bacteria and the production of ammonia in mass productionpoultry farming facilities.

In one aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of improvingthe environment within a poultry farming facility comprising applying topoultry litter or poultry manure within the poultry farming facility acomposition comprising at least one microorganism of the genus Bacillusand at least one biosurfactant, wherein the biosurfactant is present inthe composition in an amount of between about 2 mg/L and 7000 mg/L.

In some embodiments, the environment is improved by controlling orreducing the production of ammonia in the poultry farming facility. Insome embodiments, the control or reduction in ammonia production is atleast in part resulting from controlling or reducing urease producingbacteria in the poultry litter and/or from the reduction or inhibitionof urease enzymes in the poultry litter or poultry manure.

In some embodiments, the environment is improved by controlling orreducing pathogenic bacteria in the poultry litter or poultry manure.

In some embodiments, the environment is improved by controlling poultrylitter pests, such as beetles and flies and their respective larvae.

In some embodiments, the improvement in the environment, improvesfeeding, laying, weight gain and other measures of productivity withinthe poultry facility.

In another aspect of the invention there is provided a method ofpreventing or reducing foot pad dermatitis (pododermatitis) andgangrenous dermatitis in the poultry in a poultry farming facilitycomprising applying to poultry litter within the poultry farmingfacility a composition comprising at least one microorganism of thegenus Bacillus and at least one biosurfactant, wherein the biosurfactantis present in the composition in an amount of between about 2 mg/L and7000 mg/L.

In some embodiments, the preventing or, reducing pododermatitis resultsfrom the control or reduction of Staphylococcus and or Pseudomonasmicroorganisms in the poultry litter. In some embodiments, thepododermatitis may be reduced or prevented by the reduction or lack ofuse of neutralizing acidic compounds in the poultry litter.

In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a compositioncomprising at least one microorganism of the genus Bacillus and at leastone biosurfactant, wherein the biosurfactant is present in thecomposition in an amount of between about 2 mg/L and 7000 mg/L.

In some embodiments, the composition comprises 50 to 7000 mg/L ofbiosurfactant. In some embodiments, the composition is a concentratewhich may be further diluted before use. In these embodiments, thebiosurfactant may be present in an amount of 500 mg/L to 7000 mg/L,especially 800 mg/I, to 7000 mg/L or 850 mg/L to 6000 mg/L. In someembodiments, the composition is in diluted form comprising biosurfactantin the range of 2 mg/L to 850 mg/L, especially 2 mg/L to 800 mg/L or 2mg/L to 500 mg/L. In some embodiments, the composition further comprisesa surfactant, especially an anionic surfactant.

In some embodiments, the composition comprises the Bacillus speciesRSA-203.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 1. Definitions

The articles “a” and “an” are used herein to refer to one or to morethan one (i.e. to at least one) of the grammatical object of thearticle. By way of example, “an element” means one element or more thanone element.

As used herein, the term “about” refers to a quantity, level, value,dimension, size, or amount that varies by as much as 30%, 25%, 20%, 15%or 10% to a reference quantity, level, value, dimension, size, oramount.

Throughout this specification and the claims which follow, unless thecontext requires otherwise, the word “comprise”, and variations such as“comprises” and “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusionof a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps but not theexclusion of any other integer or step or group of integers or steps.

As used herein, the term “environment within a poultry farming facility”refers to the poultry housing areas of a poultry farming facility suchas barns in which poultry are raised and/or where eggs are laid andinclude the floor or a story of the barn, the poultry litter used in thebarn, the air and air quality in the barn and the hard surfaces insidethe barn.

As used herein, the term “poultry” refers to domesticated birds kept byhumans for the purposes of obtaining eggs, meat and/or feathers. Poultryincludes fowls, waterfowls and game birds. Examples of poultry includechickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, quail, pheasants, doves, pigeons, emus,ostriches and rhea.

As used herein, the term “vinasse” refers to a by-product of the sugarindustry obtained from the processing of sugar cane or sugar beet. Themolasses produced during sugar processing is fermented to produceethanol and ascorbic acid. The residue left after this fermentation isreferred to as vinasse. Vinasse is a viscous liquid with a total solidscontent of 2-10% w/v, high acidity pH 4-5 and high BOD (30 000-40 000).

2. Methods of the Invention

The invention relates to methods of improving the environment in apoultry facility, especially a mass production poultry facility. Themethods comprising contacting poultry litter or poultry manure with acomposition comprising at least one microorganism of the genus Bacillusand at least one biosurfactant, wherein the biosurfactant is present inthe composition in an amount of between about 2 mg/L and 7000 mg/L. Themethods may be used in poultry farms to control or reduce pathogenicbacteria, control or reduce the production of ammonia, treat or preventpoultry pododermatitis, or controlling or preventing pest infestation inpoultry facilities. The composition also may improve productivity inpoultry facilities.

The poultry farming facility may be a facility where poultry areproduced for consumption or a facility where poultry are kept for theireggs, feathers or other poultry products.

In some embodiments, the methods are for controlling pathogenic bacteriain poultry litter or poultry manure. The pathogenic bacteria may be agastrointestinal pathogen of poultry. The pathogenic bacteria may causedisease in the poultry, such as diarrhea or pododermatitis. Thepathogenic bacteria may also be pathogenic bacteria that infect humans.In some embodiments, the pathogenic bacteria are selected fromSalmonella spp., Clostridium spp., Campylobacter spp., Escherichia spp.Pseudomonas spp. and Staphylococcus spp. For example, the pathogenicbacteria may be selected from Salmonella enterica, Campylobacter jejuni,Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli andClostridium perfringens. The bacteria may or may not have developedresistance to standard antibiotics or vaccines.

In another aspect of the invention there is a method of treating orpreventing poultry pododermatitis or gangrenous dermatitis. Poultrypododermatitis also known as foot pad dermatitis, and gangrenousdermatitis are conditions that affect the feet of poultry that live inan environment covered with poultry litter. In some cases, thepododermatitis or gangrenous dermatitis is exacerbated by the presenceof poultry litter amendments, such as neutralizing acids, that are usedto control the production of ammonia in poultry litter, for example,alum, bisulfite salts and other acids. Poultry pododermatitis organgrenous dermatitis may be caused by Staphylococcus aureus orPseudomonas aeruginosa that is present in the poultry fecal matter thatis present in the poultry litter. These conditions result in infectionand blisters on the poultry bird's feet, hock burns and/or breastblisters.

In some embodiments, the methods are for controlling or reducing ammoniathat is produced in poultry facilities. The ammonia is thought to beproduced by hydrolysis of urea and uric acid that is in poultry faecesin the poultry litter or poultry manure. Hydrolysis of urea and uricacid to produce ammonia is accelerated by the presence of urease enzymesthat are present in or excreted from bacteria in the poultry faeces.Without wishing to be bound by theory, it is believed the compositionreduces urease enzyme activity in poultry fecal matter by controlling orkilling the urease containing microbes in the fecal matter. Ureasescatalyze the degradation of uric acid to ammonia within the fecalmatter. Therefore in one aspect of the invention there is provided amethod for controlling or inhibiting the activity of urease enzymes inthe poultry litter or poultry manure.

In some embodiments, the ammonia concentration in the poultry facilityis controlled to a level below 25 ppm, the maximum concentration ofammonia allowed in poultry facilities. In some embodiments, theconcentration of ammonia as maintained below 20 ppm, 15 ppm or 10 ppm.Advantageously, the ammonia concentration may be maintained below 25 ppmfor between 2 and 50 days, for example, 5 and 50 days, 10 and 50 days,15 and 50 days, 20 and 50 days, especially a period of time sufficientfor the poultry to grow from chicks to adults. Advantageously,maintaining the concentration of ammonia below 25 ppm reduces oreliminates the need for the use of ventilation fans in the facilitieswhich are energy intensive and expensive to run.

In another aspect, the methods of the invention relate to controllingpests in the poultry litter. In particular embodiments, the pests areinvertebrate pests such as insects. In one embodiment, the pest isselected from darkling beetles, especially darkling beetle larvae, andflies such as horse flies, little horse flies, black garbage flies,house flies, lesser house flies, stable flies, bottle flies, blow flies,fresh flies, drone flies and other domestic flies.

In yet another aspect of the invention, the method improves productivityof the poultry and poultry facility. The reduction in pathogenicbacteria and/or reduction of ammonia levels improves the general healthof the poultry birds increasing their feeding and growth and producinghealthy feet. The productivity increase may manifest itself by increasedaverage weight of the poultry birds, the production of more eggs orlarger eggs and/or the production of healthy saleable chicken feet forthe Asian food market.

In some embodiments, the composition or diluted composition is sprayedover the poultry litter. In some embodiments, the composition is usedneat. In other embodiments, the composition is diluted, for example,with water. However a bactericidal concentration of biosurfactant of atleast 2 mg/L, especially 50 mg/L is maintained. In some embodiments, thecomposition is diluted by 1 part v/v composition in 2 parts water to 1part v/v composition 30 parts water, for example, 1 part composition in2 to 25 parts water, 1 part composition in 5 to 20 parts water,especially 1 part composition in 10 parts water, 1 part composition in11 parts water, 1 part composition in 12 parts water, 1 part compositionin 13 parts water, 1 part composition in 14 parts water, 1 partcomposition in 15 parts water, 1 part composition in 16 parts water, 1part composition in 17 parts water, 1 part composition in 18 partswater, 1 part composition in 19 parts water or 1 part composition in 20parts water.

When the composition of the invention is diluted, the composition maycomprise about 1 to 40% v/v of the diluted composition, especially 1 to30% v/v, 1 to 20% v/v, 1 to 15% v/v, 1 to 12% v/v or 1 to 10% v/v, moreespecially about 2 to 8%.

The composition, either diluted or undiluted, may be applied to thepoultry litter in an amount of 1 gallon per 50 square feet to 1 gallonper 150 square feet (0.8 L/m² to 0.27 L/m²), especially 1 gallon per 75square feet to 1 gallon per 125 square feet (0.54 L/M² to 0.33 L/m²) or1 gallon per 90 square feet to 1 gallon per 120 square feet (0.45 L/m²to 0.34 L/m²).

In some embodiments, the poultry litter comprises one or more of woodshavings, saw dust, straw, peanut husks, rice hulls, shredded sugar caneand other low cost dry, absorbent, low-cost organic materials. The typeof organic material used may be dictated by local crops and their dryorganic waste materials.

In some embodiments, the composition is applied to poultry litterbetween broods of poultry and therefore the litter comprises fecalmatter prior to introduction of the next brood of chicks. Thecomposition of the invention may be applied to the poultry litter 1 to10 days before the introduction of the next brood of chicks, especially3 to 7 days before.

In some embodiments, the composition is applied to poultry manure, forexample, in egg producing facilities such as those containing cagedpoultry.

In some embodiments, the poultry litter or poultry manure may be subjectto windrowing before or after application of the composition of theinvention. In some embodiments, the composition applied to the windrowcomprises microorganisms in spore form.

3. Compositions of the Invention

In one aspect of the present invention there is provided a compositioncomprising at least one microorganism of the genus Bacillus and at leastone biosurfactant, wherein the biosurfactant is present in thecomposition in an amount of about 2 mg/L to 7000 mg/L.

In particular embodiments, the at least one microorganism from the genusBacillus is a probiotic microorganism. In some embodiments, thecomposition comprises one microorganism from the genus Bacillus. Inother embodiments, the composition comprises more than one microorganismfrom the genus Bacillus, for example 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 microorganisms. Insome embodiments, the at least one microorganism from the genus Bacillusis selected from Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus licheniformis, Bacillusamyloliquefaciens, Bacillus pumilus, Bacillus popillae, Bacilluscirculans and mixtures thereof, especially Bacillus subtilis andBacillus licheniformis and mixtures thereof, more especially Bacillussubtilis.

In some embodiments, the at least one microorganism from the genusBacillus is a specific strain of Bacillus subtilis, especially Bacillussubtilis subspecies subtilis NRRL B-3383 (US Department of Agriculture,Agricultural Research Service, ARS Culture Collection NRRL), B. subtilisATCC 21331, B. subtilis ATCC 21332, B. subtilis SD901 (FERM BP.7666),and B. subtilis RSA-203 or a mixture thereof. In some embodiments, theat least one microorganism of the genus Bacillus comprises B. subtilisRSA-203. In some embodiments, the at least one microorganism of thegenus Bacillus is a combination of Bacillus subtilis NRRL B-3383 andBacillus subtilis RSA-203.

RSA-203 is a microorganism that is a strain of Bacillus subtilis. It isa rod-shaped, aerobic, Gram-positive, β-hemolytic microbe capable offorming endospores. Nucleic acid sequence analysis confirms it is astrain of B. subtilis. A sample of this microorganism was deposited atATCC depository, 10801 University Boulevard, Manassas, Va. 20110-2209,United States of America on 9 Jan. 2013, and has been allocatedAccession No. ______.

RSA-203 produces significant amounts of the biosurfactant surfactin. Ifculture conditions include foamate removal during culture, surfactin maybe produced in amounts of 250 mg/L to 1000 mg/L in the culture mediumand 850 mg/L to 2 g/L in the foamate.

In some embodiments, the microorganism is in a vegetative state. Inother embodiments, the microorganism is in a dormant state, for example,an endospore. In yet other embodiments, the microorganism is present ina mixture of dormant and vegetative states.

The composition may comprise any suitable amount of microorganism of thegenus Bacillus to achieve a suitable population when applied to poultrylitter. Without wishing to be bound by theory, the microorganism isthought to be able to take advantage of food sources in the poultrylitter more effectively than other microorganisms such as pathogenicbacteria. This results in the microorganisms of the genus Bacillusoutperforming the other microorganism, such that the othermicroorganisms do not thrive or die. Suitable amounts of microorgansismof the genus Bacillus are between 1×10⁴ cfu/mL to 1×10¹³ cfu/mL.

In some embodiments, the at least one biosurfactant is produced by themicroorganism of the genus Bacillus that is in the composition. In otherembodiments, the at least one biosurfactant is not produced by themicroorganism of the genus Bacillus that is in the composition.

In some embodiments, the at least one biosurfactant is an antimicrobialpeptide, especially a cyclic lipopeptide biosurfactant. In someembodiments, the biosurfactant is one of surfactin, lichenysin, iturin,fengycin or mixtures thereof, more especially surfactin, lichenysin ormixtures thereof, most especially surfactin. Each of thesebiosurfactants may contain mixtures of compounds, varying in chainlength of the fatty acid moiety of the lipopeptide.

Cyclic lipopeptides, such as surfactin, have a cyclic peptide moiety anda moiety derived from a fatty acid. Surfactin has a cyclic peptide ofseven amino acids including both D- and L-amino acids,Glu-Leu-D-Leu-Val-Asp-D-Leu-Leu, linked from the N-terminus to theC-terminus to form a cyclic moiety by a C₁₂-C₁₇ β-hydroxy fatty acid asshown below.

Lichenysin has a similar structure with the amino acid sequencediffering from surfactin, Gln-Leu-D-Leu-Val-Asp-D-Leu-Ile, linked fromthe N-terminus to the C-terminus to form a cyclic moiety by a C₁₂-C₁₇β-hydroxy fatty acid.

Fengycin is a cyclic lipopeptide having the sequenceGlu-D-Orn-Tyr-D-Allo-Thr-Glu-D-Ala-Pro-Glu-D-Tyr-Ile where the peptideis cyclized between the tyrosine phenoxy group of position 3 and theC-terminus of the Ile at position 10, the fatty acid is attached to thepeptide forming an amide with the N-terminus.

Iturin refers to a group of cyclic peptides with the sequenceAsn-D-Tyr-D-Asn-Gin-Pro-D-Asn-Ser in which the N-terminus and C-terminusare connected by a β-amino fatty acid of varying length.

The composition comprises biosurfactant in an amount of 2 mg/L to 7000mg/L, for example 50 mg/L to 7000 mg/L. In some embodiments, thecomposition is in the form of a concentrate that may be diluted beforeuse. For example, the concentrate may comprise biosurfactant at aconcentration of 500 mg/L to 7000 mg/L, 800 mg/L to 7000 mg/L or 850mg/L to 6000 mg/L. In some embodiments, the composition is in dilutedform and comprises biosurfactant in the range of 2 mg/L to 850 mg/L,especially 2 mg/L to 800 mg/L or 2 mg/L to 500 mg/L. In some embodimentsthe composition comprises biosurfactant in an amount of about 50 mg/L to4000 mg/L, 50 mg/L to 2000 mg/L, 100 mg/L to 2000 mg/L, 400 mg/L to 2000mg/L or about 750 mg/L to 1500 mg/L.

The composition comprises an aqueous carrier, for example, water, bufferor culture broth. In some embodiments, the aqueous composition isbuffered at a pH from 3 and 8. For example, citric acid buffer can beused to maintain a pH of 3 to 6 or a phosphate buffer such as monosodiumphosphate, monopotassium phosphate, disodium phosphate or dipotassiumphosphate may be used to maintain a pH of from 4.8 to 8. In someembodiments, the composition has a pH of from 3 to 6. In otherembodiments, the composition has a pH of 6 to 8.

In some embodiments, the composition further comprises at least onesurfactant. The surfactant may be anionic, cationic, non-ionic orzwitterionic. In some embodiments, the surfactant has a HydrophilicLipophilic Balance (HLB) of 12 or greater, especially in the range of 12to 14. Suitable surfactants include those referred to in McCutcheon'sEmulsifiers & Detergents, International Edition, 1998 and subsequentEditions, for example those referred to at pages 223 to 231 of the HLBindex of the 1998 Edition. Exemplary non-ionic surfactants include alkyland polyalkyl esters of poly(ethylene oxide), alkyl and polyalkyl ethersof poly(ethylene oxide), alkyl and polyalkyl esters of sorbitanoptionally polyethoxylated, alkyl and polyalkyl ethers of sorbitanoptionally polyethoxylated, alkyl and polyalkyl glycosides orpolyglycosides, in particular alkyl and polyalkyl glucosides orpolyglucosides, alkyl and polyalkyl esters of sucrose, alkyl andpolyalkyl esters of glycerol optionally polyethoxylated, alkyl andpolyalkyl ethers of glycerol optionally polyethoxylated, and mixturesthereof. Exemplary anionic surfactants include alkyl ether sulphates,carboxylates, derivatives of amino acids, sulfonates, such as linearalkylbenzene sulfonates, or sulfonic acids, isothionates, taurates,sulphosuccinates, alkylsulphoacetates, polypeptides, metal salts ofC₁₀-C₃₀, notably C₁₂-C₂₀ fatty acids, in particular metal stearates, andmixtures thereof. In a particular embodiment, the surfactant is a linearalkylbenzenesulfonate or sulfonic acid, especiallydodecylbenzenesulfonic acid.

Suitable alkyl and polyalkyl esters of poly(ethylene oxide) includethose having a number of ethylene oxide (EO) units ranging from 2 to200, for example, stearate 40 EO, stearate 50 EO, stearate 100 EO,laurate 20 EO, laurate 40 EO, distearate 150 EO. Suitable alkyl andpolyalkyl ethers of poly(ethylene oxide) include those having number ofethylene oxide (EO) units ranging from 2 to 200, for example, cetylether 23 EO, oleyl ether 50 EO, phytosterol 30 EO, steareth 40, steareth100, beheneth 100. Suitable alkyl and polyalkyl esters of sorbitanoptionally polyethoxylated, include those having number of ethyleneoxide (EU) units ranging from 0 to 100, for example, sorbitan laurate 4or 20 EO, in particular polysorbate 20 (or polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitanmonolaurate) such as the product Tween 20 marketed by the companyUniqerna, sorbitan palmitate 20 EO, sorbitan stearate 20 EU, sorbitanoleate 20 EU or Cremophor (RH 40, RH 60 etc.) from BASF. Suitable alkyland polyalkyl ethers of sorbitan, optionally polyethoxylated, includethose having number of ethylene oxide (EO) units ranging from 0 to 100.Suitable alkyl and polyalkyl glucosides or polyglucosides, include thosecontaining an alkyl group having from 6 to 30 carbon atoms andespecially from 6 to 18, or even from 8 to 16 carbon atoms, andcontaining a glucoside group, especially containing from 1 to 5, notably1, 2 to 3 glucoside units. The alkylpolyglucosides can be selected forexample from decylglucoside (Alkyl-Cg/Cn-polyglucoside (1.4)) such asthe product marketed under the name Mydol 10® by the company KaoChemicals or the product marketed under the name Plantacare 2000 UP® bythe company Henkel and the product marketed under the name ORAMIX NS 10® by the company SEPPIC; caprylyl/capryl glucoside such as the productmarketed under the name Plantacare KE 3711 ® by the company Cognis orORAMIX CG 110 ® by the company SEPPIC; laurylglucoside such as theproduct marketed under the name Plantacare 1200 UP® by the companyHenkel or Plantaren 1200 N® by the company Henkel; cocoglucoside such asthe product marketed under the name Plantacare 818 UP® by the companyHenkel; caprylylglucoside such as the product marketed under the namePlantacare 810 UP® by the company Cognis; and mixtures thereof. Suitablealkyl and polyalkyl esters of sucrose include, for example Crodesta F150, sucrose monolaurate marketed under the name Crodesta SL 40, and theproducts marketed by Ryoto Sugar Ester for example, sucrose palmitemarketed under reference Ryoto Sugar Ester P 1670, Ryoto Sugar Ester LWA1695, and Ryoto Sugar Ester 01570. Suitable alkyl and polyalkyl estersof glycerol optionally polyethoxylated, include those having number ofethylene oxide (EO) units ranging from 0 to 100 and number of glycerolunits ranging from 1 to 30, for example, hexaglyceryl monolaurate andPEG-30 glyceryl stearate. Suitable alkyl and polyalkyl ethers ofglycerol optionally polyethoxylated, include those having number ofethylene oxide (EO) units ranging from 0 to 100 and number of glycerolunits ranging from 1 to 30. Examples include Nikkol Batyl alcohol 100,Nikkol chimyl alcohol 100. Suitable alkyl ether sulphates include, forexample lauryl ether sodium sulphate (C12-14 70-30) (2.2 EO) marketedunder the names SIPON AOS225 or TEXAPON N702 by the company Henkel,lauryl ether ammonium sulphate (C 12-14 70-30) (3 EO) marketed under thename SIPON LEA 370 by the company Henkel, alkyl (C 12-C 14) ether (9 EO)ammonium sulphate marketed under the name RHODAPEX AB/20 by the companyRhodia Chimie, and the mixture of lauryl and oleyl ether sulphate ofsodium and of magnesium marketed under the name EMPICOL BSD 52 by thecompany Albright & Wilson.

The surfactant may be present in an amount to assist with wetting of thepoultry litter when the composition is applied. Suitable amounts include0.01 to 10% wt/wt, especially 0.1% to 5% wt/wt, more especially 0.1 to1% wt/wt of the composition.

In some embodiments, the composition further comprises an organic acid.In some embodiments, the organic acid is selected from citric acid,acetic acid, lactic acid, tartaric acid, ascorbic acid and the like,especially citric acid. The organic acid is included to adjust the pH tobetween 3 and 6 and may assist in neutralizing free ammonia in thepoultry litter which is present when the composition is applied to thelitter or that is produced after application of the composition to thepoultry litter.

Other optional components of the composition include fragrances such ascitrus oil extract and the like. Such fragrances may be synthetic ornatural but are preferably natural; and dyes, which may be useful inidentifying treated poultry litter. Suitable dyes include food gradedyes such as FD&C Green #5, FD&C Green #3, FD&C Blue #1, FD&C Blue #2,FD&C Red #40, FD&C Red #3, FD&C Yellow #5, FC&C #6, Green S, QuinolineYellow, Carmoisine, Ponceau 4R, Patent Blue V, annatto, chlorophylin,cochineal, betanin, saffron, tumeric, lycopene, elderberry juice, pandanand butterfly pea.

The composition of the invention may be prepared in a microbial culture.The microorganism from the genus Bacillus may be produced by standardculture techniques. For example, a bioreactor is charged withdemineralized water salts and nutrients and mixed. The culture medium isthen inoculated with a culture of the desired microorganism. The biomassis then aerated, agitated and incubated at a suitable temperature, forexample, 35° C., until the desired microbial growth is obtained. Thedesired microbial growth may be determined by optical density at 600 nm(OD_(600 nm)). In particular embodiments, the culture is continued untilthe optical density reaches OD_(600 nm)>1.5 to 2.5, especially 1.7 to2.0.

An exemplary process includes charging a bioreactor with demineralizedwater, monopotassium phosphate, disodium phosphate, ammonium nitrate,yeast extract, magnesium sulphate, calcium chloride, ferrous sulphate,manganese sulphate, sodium ethylene diamine tetraacctic acid (EDTA) andglucose. After mixing, the culture medium is inoculated with anappropriate Bacillus sp. The culture is then aerated and agitated at 300rpm for about 12 hours at 35° C. The culturing process was complete whenthe cell density reached 1×10¹⁴ colony forming units (cfu) per mL orOD_(600 nm) between 1.7 and 2.0.

While in some embodiments, the composition may comprise the culturemedium containing microorganism and biosurfactant in sufficientquantities produced directly from the culture process. In otherembodiments, the biosurfactant is added to the culture medium or acomposition comprising the microorganism in vegetative or endosporestate.

In some embodiments, the culture process may be performed using Bacillusmicroorganisms that do not produce sufficient amounts of biosurfactantto use in the invention. In some embodiments, the culture processincludes the step of continuous removal of biosurfactant by foamdistillation thereby encouraging the microorganism to produce largeramounts of biosurfactant by depleting the biosurfactant as it isproduced. In yet other embodiments, the microorganism of the genusBacillus is isolated, for example, in endospore form, and is not inculture medium and therefore does not contain biosurfactant. In theseembodiments, a desired amount of biosurfactant may be added to themicroorganism to form a composition of the invention.

The biosurfactant may be produced as described above or by other methodsknown in the art. The production of biosurfactants, such as surfactin,are described in the literature, for example in U.S. Pat. No. 3,687,926,JP-A-6-121668, U.S. Pat. No. 3,030,789, U.S. Pat. No. 7,011,969, Wei etal. Enz. Microbiol. Technol., 1989, 22:724-728, Sheppard et al., Appl.Microbiol. Biotechnol., 1989, 27:486-489, Mulligan et al., Appl.Microbiol. Biotechnol., (1989), 31:486-489, Kim et al. J. Ferment.Bioeng., 1997, 84:41-46 and Cooper et al., Appl. Environ. Microbiol.,1981, 42:408-412.

In particular embodiments, the microorganism of the genus Bacillus inthe composition is a biosurfactant-producing microbe.

The biosurfactant may be produced by any biosurfactant-producingmicrobe. However, in particular embodiments, the at least onebiosurfactant-producing microbe is from the genus Bacillus, for example,they may be selected from Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus licheniformis,Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Bacillus pumilus, Bacillus popilliae,Bacillus circulans and mixtures thereof. In some embodiments, onebiosurfactant-producing microbe is present in the liquid culture medium.In other embodiments, two biosurfactant-producing microbes are presentin the liquid culture medium. In yet another embodiment, threebiosurfactant-producing microbes are present in the liquid culturemedium. In still further embodiments, four biosurfactant-producingmicrobes are present in the liquid culture medium. In some embodiments,the at least one biosurfactant-producing microbe is a mixture of fivebiosurfactant-producing microbes. The at least onebiosurfactant-producing microbe may be a strain of microbe known toproduce biosurfactants in improved yields. For example, many species ofBacillus produce biosurfactants, however, Bacillus subtilis and Bacilluslicheniformis are known to produce significant quantities ofbiosurfactants. Furthermore, specific strains of Bacillus subtilis areknown to produce improved yields of biosurfactants such as B. subtilisATCC 21331, B. subtilis ATCC 21332, B. subtilis SD901 (FERM BP.7666).Many strains of biosurfactant-producing microbes are commercially orpublicly available. In particular embodiments, the at least onebiosurfactant-producing microbe is selected from B. subtilis NRRL B-3383or B. subtilis ATCC 21331 both of which are publicly available. In otherembodiments, the biosurfactant-producing microorganism is B. subtilisRSA-203, a new strain of B. subtilis found to produce significant yieldsof the biosurfactant, surfactin.

In some embodiments, the at least one biosurfactant-producing microbe isa mixture of B. subtilis and B. licheniformis. In other embodiments, theat least one biosurfactant-producing microbe is a mixture of B.subtilis, B. licheniformis, B. amyloliquefaciens, B. pumilus andBacillus popilliae. In these embodiments, the ratio of each microbe maybe adjusted to determine the amount of different biosurfactantsproduced. In some embodiments, the B. subtilis is present in a mixtureof biosurfactant-producing microbes in about 50-98% of the mixture,especially 60-95%, 70-95%, 80-95%, more especially about 90%.

In some embodiments, the carbon source used in the liquid culture mediumis a sugar or carbohydrate. Examples of suitable carbon sources includeglucose, glycerine, starch, sucrose, molasses and vinasse or mixturesthereof. In some embodiments, the carbon source comprises glucose. Inother embodiments, the carbon source comprises vinasse.

In some embodiments, the amount of carbon source, such as glucose,molasses and/or vinasse, in the liquid culture medium is from 3-20% w/v,especially 3-15% w/v, more especially 3-12% w/v or 3-10% w/v, mostespecially about 10% w/v. In some embodiments, the amount of carbonsource is varied to obtain a desired concentration of biosurfactant inthe culture broth.

The biosurfactant produced is preferably a cyclic lipopeptidebiosurfactant such as surfactin, lichenysin, iturin, fengycin andmixtures thereof. Each of these biosurfactants may contain mixtures ofcompounds varying in the chain length of the fatty acid moiety of thelipopeptide. The modulation of growth conditions and nutrients enablesthe production of biosurfactants with varying ratios of lipid fatty acidchain lengths.

In some embodiments, the biosurfactant produced is selected fromsurfactin and lichenysin and mixtures thereof. In other embodiments, thebiosurfactant produced is surfactin.

The temperature of the culturing process is 25° C. to 40° C., especially30° C. to 40° C., more especially about 30° C. to 35° C., for example32° C. to 35° C. The temperature used may depend on the identity of thebiosurfactant-producing microbe. A person skilled in the art coulddetermine appropriate temperature for a given bacterial population byroutine trial methods.

The pH of the culture medium is maintained between 4 and 8, especially 6and 8, or 6 and 7.5, more especially 6.3 to 7.2, for example 6.3 to 6.7.

The inoculum of at least one biosurfactant-producing microbe is added tothe culture medium in an amount of to achieve an initial OD_(600 nm),equal to 0.1 to 0.15. In some embodiments, the inoculum is a culturehaving an OD_(600 nm) of 1.3 to 2.5. In some embodiments, the inoculumis a culture in mid-log phase growth with an O_(600 nm) of 1.3 to 1.6and is added to the new culture in an amount to achieve an OD_(600 nm)of 0.1 to 0.15. The amount required may be readily calculated, forexample, inoculums with OD_(600 nm) of 1.5 will be added in 10% v/vratio to obtain a new culture medium with an OD_(600 nm) of 0.15.

In some embodiments, the liquid culture medium further comprises acatabolizable nitrogen source. In some embodiments, the catabolizablenitrogen source is selected from a nitrogen containing inorganic salt ornitrogen-containing organic compound for example, ammonium salts,nitrate salts, urea, peptone, meat extract, yeast extract, soybean cake,corn steep liquor, peptone, or flour derived from legumes such assoybean, adzuki bean, pea, broad bean, chick pea, lentil and string beanor extracts of such a flour or mixtures thereof. In particularembodiments, the catabolizable nitrogen source is an inorganic salt suchas an ammonium salt or nitrate salt, especially ammonium nitrate,ammonium chloride, ammonium acetate, ammonium carbonate, ammoniumbicarbonate, potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate, magnesium nitrate, andcalcium nitrate or mixtures thereof. In particular embodiments, thecatabolizable nitrogen source is ammonium nitrate, sodium nitrate,ammonium chloride or mixtures thereof, for example, sodium nitrate,ammonium nitrate or a mixture thereof.

The amount of catabolizable nitrogen source present in the liquidculture medium will depend on the nature of the source and theavailability of the nitrogen within the source. For example, thenitrogen source may be present in an amount of 1 to 20 g/L. When thenitrogen source is an inorganic nitrogen source, it may be present in anamount of 1 to 10 g/L, especially 2 to 7 g/L, more especially 3.5 to 4.5g/L.

In some embodiments, the liquid culture medium further comprises atleast one inorganic salt, such as sulfates, phosphates, chlorides,especially of metals such as manganese, iron, sodium, potassium,magnesium and calcium. In some embodiments the inorganic salts areselected from sulfates and phosphates of ions such as manganese,magnesium, sodium, potassium and iron or mixtures of such salts. Inparticular embodiment, the at least one inorganic salt is selected frommanganese sulfate, sodium phosphate, calcium chloride, magnesiumsulfate, ferrous sulfate and mixtures thereof, especially sodiumphosphate, manganese sulfate and ferrous sulfate or mixtures thereof.

The inorganic salts vary in amount depending on the salts used. If asource of phosphate is present, it may be present in an amount of about1 to 10 g/L, especially 2 to 7 g/L, more especially 4 to 7 g/L, mostespecially 5 to 6 g/L. Where inorganic salts are added to provide traceelements such as iron, manganese, and calcium, the amounts will varybetween 1 mg/L and 5 g/L, for example, calcium salts may be added in anamount of 0.5 g/L to 1 g/L, iron salts may be added in an amount of 1 to10 mg/L, manganese salts may be added in an amount of 0.5 to 1 g/L,magnesium salts may be added in an amount of 0.5 g/L to 5 g/L.

In some embodiments, the culture medium further comprises a chelatingagent. Particular chelating agents include amino carboxylic acids andsalts thereof, such as ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA),diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid, hydroxyethylethylenediaminetriacetic acid, 1,2-diamino-cyclohexane tetraacetic acid, ethyleneglycol-bis([beta]-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N′,N′-tetraacetic acid (EGTA),diethylenetriamine-pentaacetic acid (DPTA), triethylenetetraaminehexaacetic acid (TTG), aminodiacetic acid and hydroxyethyl aminodiaceticacid. Particular chelating agents are salts and mixed salts of EDTA suchas dipotassium, ammonium, calcium, disodium, trisodium and tetrasodiumsalts, most preferably disodium or tetrasodium salts of EDTA, especiallydisodium EDTA. The chelating agent is present in amount of between 0.1and 5 mg/L, especially 0.5 to 3 mg/L, more especially 1 to 2.5 mg/L ofculture medium.

The culturing method may occur on a small scale in laboratory flasks inan incubator or may occur on larger scale, such as industrial scale in abioreactor. The method is conducted under aerobic conditions.

The duration of the culturing process will depend on the cultureconditions. In some embodiments, the culturing process has a duration of8 to 120 hours, especially 8 to 72 hours, 8 to 48 hours or 8 to 24hours, for example, 10 to 14 hours. The duration of the culturingprocess is dependent of achieving a cell density greater thanOD_(600 nm) of 1.3 for surfactin production.

In some embodiments, the process further comprises aeration of theculture medium to provide dissolved oxygen. Typically, this involvesbubbling air through the culture medium at a rate of between 1 L/minuteto 3 L/minute, especially about 1.5 L/minute. The rate of aeration mayreadily be determined by a person skilled in the art. Aeration may occurfrom the beginning of the culturing process or may begin after theculturing process has begun, especially from the beginning of theculturing process. In particular embodiments, aeration maintains adissolved oxygen concentration of about 20 to 40%, especially 25 to 35%.In some embodiments, the dissolved oxygen concentration is maintained atabout 30%.

Once biosurfactant production has begun, the culture medium may foambecause of the presence of biosurfactant. In some embodiments, the foamproduction may be controlled by spraying the foamate with a mixture ofalcohol such as ethanol and solvent such as dimethylene chloride oracetone. In some embodiments, the bioreactor in which the fermentationis done is explosion proof. In some embodiments, the foam collectingequipment is explosion proof. The extent of pressure for which equipmentmust withstand is determined by the pump pressure and flow rate into thefoam column.

In some embodiments, the production of foamate is encouraged and thefoamate is collected from the culturing vessel. The foamate comprisesthe biosurfactant produced. The foam may be collected via a rotary valveinto a tank with a slight vacuum or a tank with a spray column to breakthe foam. The biosurfactant may be isolated from the foamate collected.In some embodiments, the biosurfactant is isolated by acidificationfollowed by liquid/liquid extraction and then evaporation of theliquids.

In other embodiments, the biosurfactant is isolated from the culturemedium after the culturing process is complete. For example, the crudeculture medium may be centrifuged to remove biomass. The supernatant isthen acidified to acidic pH, for example, pH 2 with acid, such as HCl.The acidic pH results in the precipitation of the biosurfactant, theacidified supernatant may be stood at 4° C. for a period of time toensure precipitation is complete. The precipitate is then collected, forexample, by centrifugation or filtration and resuspended in water. ThepH of the suspension is adjusted to alkaline pH such as pH 8 tosolubilize the precipitate. The resulting aqueous solution may beextracted with an organic solvent such as dichloromethane, ethylacetate, chloroform, especially dichloromethane, and the organic phaseevaporated to give the biosurfactant in high purity crystalline form. Insome embodiments, the biosurfactant may be collected by foamdistillation during culturing or after culturing is complete. Thebiosurfactant collected or isolated may be added to other cultures orcompositions comprising microorganisms of the genus Bacillus, especiallywhere the microorganism is in endospore form. This allows thecomposition of the invention to have a higher concentration ofbiosurfactant than could normally be obtained from or tolerated by themicroorganism.

The composition of the invention may be prepared by adding biosurfactantto a composition comprising the microorganism to provide biosurfactantin an amount between 2 mg/L to 7000 mg/L. In some embodiments, themicroorganism is in culture medium. In other embodiments, themicroorganism is in water, especially deionized water. In someembodiments, the microorganism is in culture broth and is diluted withwater, especially deionized water.

In some embodiments, where the biosurfactant producing microorganism isa microorganism from the genus Bacillus, the culturing of themicroorganism for use in the composition also produces thebiosurfactant. Therefore at least one biosurfactant in the microorganismand composition may be produced in a single step. In this embodiment,the composition may comprise culture medium and biosurfactant. In thisembodiment, if increased biosurfactant is required, furtherbiosurfactant may be added.

In some embodiments, at least some of the microorganism of the genusBacillus in the composition is in spore form. At this time, surfactantas described above may also be added.

In some embodiments, the culture broth from concurrent production ofmicroorganism of the genus Bacillus and biosurfactant is diluted andendospores form by addition of the culture broth to a mixture of water,pH adjuster such as sodium hydroxide, monopotassium phosphate or citricacid, and surfactant.

In some embodiments, after endospore formation, additional biosurfactantis added to the composition, for example, in amounts of 100 to 1000mg/L, especially about 400 to 750 mg/L.

The composition of the invention comprises the microorganism in anysuitable amount, however, in some embodiments, the microorganism ispresent in an amount of about 1×10⁴ cfu/mL to 1×10¹³ cfu/mL.

In another aspect of the invention there is provided a microbe Bacillussubtilis RSA-203.

The invention will now be described with reference to the followingexamples which illustrate some preferred aspects of the invention.However, it is to be understood that the particularity of the followingdescription of the invention is not to supersede the generality of thepreceding description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURE

FIG. 1 is a graphical representation showing the growth ofmicroorganisms over time with varying amounts of sulfate ions.

EXAMPLES Example 1 Production of Surfactin Biosurfactant

Bacillus subtilis NRRL B-3383 strain (originally obtained from theUnited States Department of Agriculture) from bacterial culture wastransferred at a 2% volume by volume inoculum into 4 L shake flaskscontaining 2.5 L of 10% vinasse based MMS broth. The vinasse based MMSbroth containing:

component quantity vinasse 100 mL ammonium nitrate 4.1 g sodiumphosphate dibasic 5.68 g tetrasodium tetrahydrate EDTA 1.8 mg manganesesulfate 6.8 mg autoclaved deionized water to 1 L

The flasks were placed on orbital shakers (SKC 6100, Jeio Tech) at 150rpm while incubating at 30° C. (MCO-801C Incubator, Sanyo). After 72hours, flasks were removed from the incubator and the biomass removedfrom the crude culture broth by centrifugation at 8,500 rpm for 20 minat 4° C. (Sorvall Evolution RC).

The pH of the resulting supernatant was brought to a pH of 2.0 using HClwhich resulted in precipitation of surfactin and the supernatant storedovernight at 4° C. to ensure complete precipitation. The precipitate wascollected by centrifugation at 8,500 rpm for 20 minutes at 4° C.Approximately 2.5 g/L of crude material was collected in the pellet. Thepellet was suspended in deionized water and the pH adjusted to 8.0 using1 M NaOH. The aqueous solution was extracted with an equal volume ofdichloromethane. The dichloromethane layer was separated and allowed toevaporate to provide purified crystalline surfactin in an amount of 50mg/L to 750 mg/L.

The samples of crystalline surfactin were examined for purity against astandard composition of pure surfactin (Sigma Aldrich, 98% pure).Analysis of the standard composition by LC-MS showed peaks withretention times at 1.03, 1.23, 1.61, 1.74, 2.15 and 2.93 minutes. Puritywas calculated based on peak area.

Four samples tested for purity using the above method were found to be80%, 56%, 58% and 61% pure.

Example 2 Production of Blends of Surfactin and Lichenysin

Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis were used to inoculate 4 Lshake flasks containing 10% molasses based MMS broth. The molasses basedMMS broth containing:

component quantity molasses 100 mL ammonium nitrate 4.1 g sodiumphosphate dibasic 5.68 g tetrasodium tetrahydrate EDTA 1.8 mg manganesesulfate 6.8 mg autoclaved deionized water to 1 L

The flasks were placed on orbital shakers (SKC 6100, Jeio Tech) at 150rpm while incubating at 30° C. (MCO-801C Incubator, Sanyo). After 72hours, flasks were removed from the incubator and the biomass removedfrom the culture broth by centrifugation at 8,500 rpm for 20 min at 4°C. (Sorvall Evolution RC).

Example 3

In a 1 liter bioreactor a buffer solution was prepared containing 800 mLdemineralized water, monopotassium phosphate (20.4 g), disodiumphosphate (28.4 g) and yeast extract (5 g). The buffer was mixed and thepH adjusted to 7. The buffer was then autoclaved. In a 1 L bioreactor,200 mL of the buffer solution was mixed with magnesium sulfate (2 mL of12 g/100 mL solution), calcium chloride (1 mL, 0.1 M), ferrous sulfateheptahydrate (1 mL, 15.7 g/100 mL solution), manganese sulfatemonohydrate (1 mL, 3.8 g/100 mL solution), sodium EDTA (1 mL, 0.18 g/100mL solution) and glucose (20 mL, 20 g/80 g deionized water) and ammoniumnitrate (10 mL, 82 g/200 mL solution). Bacillus species spores wereinoculated into the bioreactor at 2% wt. The biomass was agitated at 300rpm for 12 hours at 35° C. The Bacillus was incubated until the celldensity was to 1×10¹⁴ cfu per mL and the OD_(600 nm) was 2.2.

Example 4 Coproduction of Bacillus Species and Biosurfactant

2200 lbs (998 kg) of demineralized water was added to a 560 gallon (2200L) stainless steel reactor and warmed to 35° C. 8.7 lbs (3.95 kg) ofmonopotassium phosphate and 13.3 lbs (6 kg) of disodium phosphate wereadded and the composition mixed. Magnesium sulfate (240 g), calciumchloride (33 g), EDTA (2.2 g) dissolved in 100 mL of water, ferroussulfate (104 g), manganese sulfate (41.7 g), dextrose monohydrate (10.7lbs, 4.85 kg), autoclaved yeast extract (2.14 lbs, 0.97 kg), ammoniumchloride (6.1 lbs, 2.77 kg) and sodium nitrate (9.6 lbs, 4.35 kg) wereadded and mixing was continued at a temperature of 35° C. 23 L ofBacillus innoculum having an OD_(600 nm) of 2.2 and a surface tensiongreater than 50 dynes/cm was added. The mixture was mixed and maintainedat 35° C. and aerated to a dissolved oxygen level of 50% with filteredair. The culture was stopped when the culture medium reached an opticaldensity of 1.7 to 2.0 Absorbence units.

Example 5 Composition

A composition for use in the methods of the invention was then preparedby further dilution of the culture medium produced in Example 4. In a1000 gallon stainless steel dilution reactor was added 2200 lbs (998 kg)of demineralized water and monosodium phosphate (5 lbs, 2.27 kg) wasadded with agitation. Sodium hydroxide (5-60 lbs, 2.27-27.2 kg) and <1%wt non-ionic dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid was added. The pH was adjustedto 6-8 with sodium hydroxide. The cultured bacteria and medium were thenadded and the composition mixed. Surface tension was checked andadditional concentrated surfactin foam condensate was added to provide asurface tension of 27-35 dynes/cm.

Example 6 Composition

The method of Example 5 was repeated with the exception that the pH wasadjusted to 3.5 to 5 with citric acid.

Example 7 Ammonia Production in Chicken Litter

Chicken litter containing chicken faeces was divided into two cubic yardboxes in equal amounts. One box was monitored for ammonia productionwithout further treatment (control). The other box was treated byspraying the chicken litter with a composition comprising microbes ofthe Bacillus species including B. subtilis, vinasse residue andsurfactin. The composition was derived from culturing process anddiluted to 5-25% per litre with water and the litter was treated at arate of 1 L per 100 square metres.

Results:

The control box had an ammonia concentration of 20 ppm. The treated boxhad an ammonia concentration of 8 ppm.

Example 8 Ammonia Production in Poultry Barns

Four poultry barns (broilers), each having an area of 22,000 square feet(2044 m²) and housing 22,300 birds were used. In all four houses, thepoultry litter was treated 5 days before the placement of poultry chicksin the barn.

Barn One was treated with the composition of Example 4. 12.5 (47.3 L)gallons of the composition of Example 5 was mixed with 185 gallons (700L) of water then blended and sprayed on the poultry litter comprisingsawdust and compost in half the barn. This process was repeated withanother 12.5 gallons (47.3 L) of composition in 185 gallons (700 L) ofwater to treat the other half of the barn.

Barn Two was treated with the composition of Example 5. 12.5 gallons(47.3 L) of the composition of Example 5 was mixed with 185 gallons (700L) of water then blended and sprayed on the poultry litter in half thebarn. This process was repeated with another 12.5 gallons (47.3 L) ofcomposition in 185 gallons (700 L) of water to treat the other half ofthe barn.

Barns Three and Four were treated with aluminium bisulphate, a pHadjustment substance. In each barn, 1650 pounds (748 kg) of aluminiumbisulphate was blended in 500 gallons (1893 L) of water, and sprayed onthe poultry litter.

In each barn the aqueous treatment was applied by a motorized 6 nozzlesprayer equipped with and fed from a 200 gallon (757 L) tank, mounted ona four wheeled vehicle. After application, the poultry litter waswindrowed by tractor.

After treatment three samples of litter were taken from each of theBarns and analysed for ammonia gas.

The poultry chicks were placed in the barns and air samples were takenat days 1, 5, 16, 21 and 39 and analysed for ammonia concentrationsusing Drager tubes (Drager Safety Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa., USA). Theresults are shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Day twenty Day one Day five Day sixteen one Day 39 Barn One 1010 20 20 12 Barn Two 10 10 20 20 15 Barn 0 20 18 >25 Full fans ThreeBarn Four 0 20 18 >25 Full fans

Full fans indicates that mechanical ventilation of the barn was requiredto control ammonia concentrations.

The poultry in all four barns were assessed for health, morbidity andweight. The poultry in all four barns were in good health.

The feet of the poultry were analysed by paw grading; healthy pawsgraded as 1, through to infected and blistered paws graded as 4. InBarns One and Two the paw grading was 1. No birds had blisters on theirfeet.

Morbidity levels in Barns One and Two was reduced by an average of 133birds compared to Barns Three and Four.

Bird weights increased in Barns One and Two by 15 to 20 points comparedto Barns Three and Four. This equates to a total of 11,000 lbs ofadditional weight in 35 days in Barns One and Two.

Example 9

On day 21 of the poultry farm trial of Example 8, a sample of poultrylitter was taken and the litter was analysed by plating on agar plates.The plates were incubated and then stained by Gram staining. Only Grampositive species were present.

Example 10 Control of Salmonella Pathogens

Chicken manure was sterilized by autoclaving at a minimum temperature of121° C. for 35 minutes, to ensure that the samples included no competingbacteria. After sterilization, the chicken manure was inoculated withSalmonella enterica and allowed to incubate for 24 hours. Afterincubation the non-control samples of chicken manure were treated with acomposition of Example 6 by spraying approximately 100 μL of compositionon the chicken manure (25 g). Control samples included sterilizedchicken manure and sterilized chicken manure inoculated with Salmonellaenterica and incubated for 24 hours but these controls were not treatedwith the composition of Example 6.

The samples were analysed for bacterial growth, both Salmonella entericaand Bacillus subtilis on growth media (ATCC medium 3, nutrient agar).The analysis of the controls were performed after sterilization (time0), after inoculation and incubation for 24 hours (time 0) and theanalysis of the test samples was carried out at 3, 6, 24, 48 and 96hours after application of the composition of Example 6.

A supplemental Triple Sugar Iron (TSI) test, was used to distinguishbetween the growth of Bacillus spp. and Salmonella spp. Salmonellaenterica produces hydrogen sulphide resulting in a dark colour in thistest whereas the Bacillus spp. does not.

The presence of Salmonella enterica was assessed over a period of fourdays. After the four day period the test samples were re-innoculatedwith Salmonella enterica and incubated for 24 hours. The samples werethen evaluated for a further period of four days. The samples forre-inoculation had been initially inoculated with Salmonella entericaincubated for 24 hours, treated with the composition of Example 5,incubated for 4 days, then reinoculated with Salmonella enterica andincubated for 24 hours. A sample was then analysed at time zero(control) then at 3, 6, 24, 48 and 96 hours. The results are shown inTable 2.

TABLE 2 Time Sample Description (hrs) Results Comments Control 1Sterilized chicken 0 No growth — manure Control 2 Sterilized chicken 0Growth Growth positive manure inoculated for S. enterica with S.enterica by TSI test Sample 1 Sterilized chicken 3 Growth TSI testnegative manure inoculated for Salmonella with S. enterica and treatedwith 6 Growth TSI test negative composition of for Salmonella Example 524 Growth TSI test negative for Salmonella 48 Growth TSI test negativefor Salmonella 96 Growth TSI test negative for Salmonella Control 3Treated sample re- 0 Growth TSI test negative innoculated with forSalmonella S. enterica Sample 2 Sample 1 re- 3 Growth TSI test negativeinnoculated with for Salmonella S. enterica 6 Growth TSI test negativefor Salmonella 24 Growth TSI test negative for Salmonella 48 Growth TSItest negative for Salmonella 96 Growth TSI test negative for Salmonella

There was no growth of pathogenic Salmonella enterica observed in any ofthe test samples treated with the composition of Example 6 from 3 hoursto 96 hours. Furthermore, no growth of Salmonella enterica in there-innoculated samples over 3 hours to 96 hours.

This demonstrates that the composition comprising a microorganism of thegenus Bacillus and biosurfactant is effective against S. enterica foundin chicken manure. The treatment is effective within 3 hours and has along-lasting effect.

Example 11 Pest Control

25 gallons (95 L) of the composition of Example 6 was added to 400gallons (1514 L) of water and sprayed on 21,000 square feet of poultrylitter. The litter was then windrowed. The litter was checked fordarkling beetle larvae and any larvae found were collected andmonitored. The darkling beetle larvae expired within 2 hours of exposureto the litter treatment. No live darkling beetle larvae were found inthe treated litter 24 hours after treatment.

Example 12 Control of Campylobacter jejuni Pathogen

Chicken manure was sterilized by autoclaving at a minimum temperature of121° C. for 35 minutes, to ensure the samples included no competingbacteria. After sterilization, the chicken manure was inoculated withCampylobacter jejuni. The non-control samples of chicken manure wastreated with a composition of Example 6 by spraying approximately 100 μLof composition on the chicken manure (25 g). Controls includedsterilized chicken manure and sterilized chicken manure inoculated withCampylobacter jejuni but neither sample was treated with a compositionof Example 6. The samples were incubated at 42° C.

The samples were analysed for bacterial growth on Campylobacter jejunimedia. The analysis of the controls were performed after sterilization(time 0), after inoculation and incubation for 24 hours (time 0)respectively, and the analysis of the test samples was carried out at 3,6, 24, 48 and 96 hours after application of the composition of Example6.

After the 96 hour test period, the test samples were reinoculated withCampylobacter jejuni. A sample (control 4) was assessed at time 0 toconfirm viability of the bacteria. The reinoculated samples were thenincubated for 96 hours and assessed again. The results are shown inTable 3.

TABLE 3 Sample Description Times (hrs) Results Control 1 Sterilizedchicken manure 0 No growth Control 2 Sterilized chicken manure 0 Growthinoculated with C. jejuni Control 3 Sample of Example 5 0 No growthSample 1 Sterilized chicken manure 3 No Growth inoculated with C. jejuniand treated with composition of 6 No Growth Example 5 24 No Growth 48 NoGrowth 96 No Growth Control 4 Treated chicken manure 0 Growthreinoculated with C. jejuni Sample 2 Treated chicken manure 96 No Growthwith C. jejuni

There was no pathogenic Campylobacter jejuni observed in any of the testsamples treated with a composition of Example 6 from 3 hours to 96hours. Furthermore, no growth was observed in the reinoculated sampleafter 96 hours incubation.

This demonstrates that the composition comprising a microorganism of thegenus Bacillus and biosurfactant is effective against C. jejuni found inchicken manure. The treatment was effective within 3 hours and has along-lasting effect.

Example 13 Control of Ammonia in Poultry Egg Laying Facility

A four story egg laying facility having birds in cages and manurefalling onto conveyor belts was assessed for ammonia concentration. Inthe facility the manure from the top stories is delivered by conveyorbelt to a v-shaped platform door separating top and bottom floors. Whenthe door opens, the manure (16000 lbs) is deposited onto a windrowapproximately 6 feet high.

The windrow of manure was misted with a composition of Example 5 at 4locations. At locations 1 and 2, the composition was applied neat. Atlocations 3 and 4 the composition of Example 5 was applied diluted 1:16with water. No fans were used if the ammonia levels remained below 50ppm.

When the manure was left untreated and fans were not used to dispersethe ammonia produced, ammonia levels in the facility reached 500 ppm.When fans were used, ammonia levels were reduced to <50 ppm.

The ammonia levels were sampled at intervals after treatment and theresults are shown in Table 4.

TABLE 4 Loca- Loca- Date Time tion 1 tion 2 Location 3 Location 4Location 5 30/10 9.21 am 19 ppm 18 ppm 23 ppm 23 ppm 25 ppm  4/11 8.03am 46 ppm 44 ppm  50 ppm*  52 ppm*  56 ppm* 10/11 3.10 pm 30 ppm 21 ppm30 ppm 31 ppm 41 ppm 12/11 9.36 am 11 ppm  6 ppm 13 ppm 11 ppm 19 ppm15/11 10.05 am  26 ppm 22 ppm 42 ppm 40 ppm 40 ppm 20/11 3.30 pm 29 ppm24 ppm 36 ppm 41 ppm 45 ppm 22/11 8.29 am 39 ppm 28 ppm 35 ppm 36 ppm 41ppm 24/11 9.40 am 31 ppm 29 ppm 36 ppm 40 ppm 44 ppm 28/11 7.51 am 29ppm 39 ppm 47 ppm 53 ppm 55 ppm *ineffective spraying resulted inincreased ammonia levels but dropped upon reapplication correctly.

The results show that application of the composition of the invention topoultry manure was able to maintain ammonia levels below 50 ppm for morethan 28 days.

In a variation, the manure may be treated by misting with a continuouslow dosage while being deposited on the platform door or while locatedon the platform door to provide contact with more surface area.

Example 14 Alternative Biosurfactant Production

TABLE 5 Amount/150 L Amount/1000 L KH₂PO₄ 306 gm 2.04 Kg 15 mMMonopotassium Phosphate (MW 136.09) Na₂HPO₄ 581.25 gm 3.87 Kg 27.3 mMDisodium Phosphate (MW 141.96) MgSO₄•7H₂O 88.7 gm 592 gm 2.4 mMMagnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate (MW 246.48) CaCl₂•6H₂O 0.23 gm 1.5 gm 7μM Calcium Chloride Hexahydrate (MW 219.08) C₁₀H₁₄N₂Na₂O₈•2H₂O 0.22 gm1.5 gm 4 μM Disodium EDTA Dihydrate (MW 372.24) FeSO₄•7H₂O 0.34 gm 2.3gm 8 μM Ferrous Sulfate Heptahydrate (MW 284.05) MnSO₄•H₂O 226 gm 1.51Kg 10 mM Manganese Sulfate•Monohydrate (MW 151.0) C₆H₁₂O₆•H2O 6.6 Kg 44Kg 44 gm/L Glucose Monohydrate Yeast extract 1% w/v 150 gm 1 Kg NH₄Cl400 gm 2.67 Kg 50 mM Ammonium Chloride (MW 53.49) NaNO₃ 638 gm 4.25 Kg50 mM Sodium Nitrate (MW 84.99)

An appropriate amount of filtered water was added to the bioreactor andbought to 35° C. The water was aerated continuously from this point. Thenutrients listed above in Table 5 were added in the order given.Addition of ammonium and nitrate sources were added just beforeinoculation of the preparation to prevent any contaminating bacteriafrom growing because of lack of nitrogen. The innoculum was added in anamount to achieve an initial OD_(66 nm) of ≈0.15. The culture conditionsand process were monitored by optical density measurements atOD_(66 nm).

Biosurfactant production was monitored by surface tension measurements.The surface tension of the broth can be titrated by measuring theculture fluid neat and making dilutions to determine the level ofbiosurfactant is above the Critical Micelle Concentration (CMC). Thesurface tension will not increase until the surfactin is diluted belowthe CMC.

The strain of microorganism may be monitored by culturing samples onMMS-Y and Blood Agar plates. If a mixed culture is used and the colonytypes can be differentiated on an agar plate, the inoculums and thefinal culture should be serially diluted to perform plate counts of eachstrain. This can not only determine the purity of the culture but alsoif one strain out competes the others.

Example 15 The Effect of Sulfate at Different Concentrations on Culture

The effect of sulfate on culture broth was tested by removing allsources of sulfate from the media and replacing them with chloridesalts. The culture broth contained monopotassium phosphate/dipotassiumphosphate buffer adjusted to pH 7 with potassium hydroxide. Samples werethen spiked with varying concentrations of sodium sulfate (1.8 M) at 1mL/L, 0.8 mL/L, 0.6 mL/L, 0.4 mL/L and 0.2 mL/L. Every half hour theoptical density, pH and surface tension was evaluated. This test wasdone with the RSA-203 bacterial strain.

The results are shown in FIG. 1, The results show that themicroorganisms grow equally well with chloride salts as they do withsulfate salts. In all samples, the surface tension had dropped andstabilized around 27 dynes by 5 hours.

1. A method of improving the environment within a poultry farming facility comprising applying to poultry litter or poultry manure in the poultry farming facility a composition comprising at least one microorganism of the genus Bacillus and at least one biosurfactant, wherein the biosurfactant is present in the composition in an amount of between about 2 mg/L and 7000 mg/L.
 2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the production of ammonia in a poultry farming facility is reduced or controlled, urease enzymes in poultry litter or poultry manure are reduced and/or inhibited, pathogenic bacteria in poultry litter is controlled and/or reduced, the productivity of the poultry facility is improved or pests in poultry litter are controlled.
 3. (canceled)
 4. (canceled)
 5. A method according to claim 2 wherein the pathogenic bacteria is selected from one or more of Salmonella spp., Campylobacter spp., Staphylococcus spp., Escherichia spp., Pseudomonas spp. and Clostridium spp.
 6. A method according to claim 5 wherein the pathogenic bacteria is selected from one or more of Salmonella enterica, Campylobacter jejuni, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aerugenosa and Clostridium perfringens.
 7. (canceled)
 8. (canceled)
 9. A method according to claim 2 wherein the pest is darkling beetle larvae.
 10. A method of preventing or reducing poultry pododermatitis or gangrenous dermatitis in a poultry farming facility comprising applying to poultry litter in the poultry farming facility a composition comprising at least one microorganism of the genus Bacillus and at least one biosurfactant, wherein the biosurfactant is present in the composition in an amount of between about 2 mg/L and 7000 mg/L.
 11. A method according to claim 1 wherein the composition is applied by spraying on the poultry litter.
 12. A method according to claim 1 wherein the biosurfactant is present in an amount of 2 to 850 mg/L.
 13. A method according to claim 1 wherein the at least one microorganism of the genus Bacillus is at least one strain of Bacillus subtilis.
 14. A composition comprising at least one microorganism of the genus Bacillus and at least one biosurfactant, wherein the biosurfactant is present in an amount of 2 mg/L to 7000 mg/L.
 15. A composition according to claim 14 wherein the at least one microorganism of the genus Bacillus is present in an amount of 1×10⁴ cfu/mL to 1×10¹³ cfu/mL.
 16. A composition according to claim 14 wherein at least one microorganism of the genus Bacillus is present in the vegetative state, as an endospore or a mixture of vegetative state and endospores.
 17. A composition according to claim 14 wherein the microorganism is selected from Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus licheniformis, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Bacillus pumilus, Bacillus popilliae and mixtures thereof.
 18. A composition according to claim 17 wherein the microorganism is selected from Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus licheniformis and mixtures thereof.
 19. A composition according to claim 14 wherein the Bacillus subtilis is RSA-203.
 20. A composition according to claim 14 wherein the biosurfactant is selected from surfactin, lichenysin, fengycin, iturin and mixtures thereof.
 21. A composition according to claim 20 wherein the biosurfactant is selected from surfactin, lichenysin and mixtures thereof.
 22. A composition according to claim 21 wherein the biosurfactant is surfactin.
 23. A composition according to claim 14 wherein the biosurfactant is present in an amount of 50 to 7000 mg/L.
 24. A composition according to claim 14 further comprising a surfactant.
 25. A composition according to claim 24 wherein the surfactant is an alkylbenzene sulfonic acid surfactant.
 26. A microorganism which is RSA-203 deposited with the ATCC on 9 Jan. 2013 under Accession No. PTA-13451.
 27. A method according to claim 10 wherein the biosurfactant is present in an amount of 2 to 850 mg/L.
 28. A method according to claim 10 wherein the at least one microorganism of the genus Bacillus is at least one strain of Bacillus subtilis. 